1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water meters and, more particularly, to connectors used for installing water meters to water lines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water meters measure the use of water at a particular installation site. Generally speaking, water meters are used when water is supplied to a site from a central water authority as opposed to being supplied from a well on the site""s property. Water meters typically measure the quantity of water used at the site over a period of time. Then, a central water authority can use that measured amount of water to issue a water bill based upon the amount of water used.
Generally, the water meter includes a register, a meter chamber and a meter body. The meter chamber is received in the meter body and the register is coupled to the meter body and the measuring chamber. The measuring chamber can be one of many designs, such as a positive displacement piston-type meter arrangement, a positive displacement disc-type meter arrangement or a multi-jet type turbine meter arrangement. The register typically is positioned vertically above the meter chamber. This orientation is important for adequate operation of the unit including proper lubrication and wear of the moving parts.
Generally, in new facilities, water meters are arranged or properly oriented so that the water meter body is in a horizontal position with the meter register positioned above the meter chamber in a side-by-side vertical relationship. However, in some installations, horizontal placement of the meter is not possible. For example, in industrial installations and particularly in submetering retrofit situations, the water pipe generally extends vertically along studded walls and the water meter may be installed in a vertical position whereby the measuring chamber and the register are in a side-by-side horizontal relationship as opposed to a side-by-side vertical relationship. This results in an improper orientation and lubrication of the water meter. Water meters that are improperly oriented can cause unexpected compound vector loads on either radial journal bearings or anti-friction thrust bearings provided in both the meter measuring chamber and the register. The unexpected loads may shorten a meter""s life or affect water flow accuracy. Also, gearing of the register can be adversely affected.
Alternatively, a meter setting device can be used with a water meter so as to properly orient the water meter when coupled to vertically extending pipes. However, the meter setting device is not an option to properly orient the meter when the water lines extend at an angle.
More specifically, in North America, vendors other than water meter manufacturers per se, offer devices called vertical re-setters that permit a standard horizontal axis body water meter to be oriented in a horizontal plane by using either formed copper tubing or cast copper alloy manifolds to redirect water along the horizontal axis of the water meter. In Europe and Asia, it is common to find that water meter manufacturers offer both water meter bodies for horizontal plane installations and vertical set water meters with a major axis following the vertical axis. In either geographical area, there is no provision commonly used to accommodate meters in steeply sloped terrain areas, such as the hilly country of the United States of America in and near the Appalachian chain of mountains in the Mid-South and Northeast or even steeper mountain areas associated with the Rocky Mountains in the North Central or South West of the United States of America. In such areas, conscientious meter installers may attempt to make some accommodations, for example, extra piping may be bent to attempt to correctly orient the meter or flexible piping connections may be provided that can be arranged to set the meter in a horizontal plane. But, more commonly, it is found that the water pipeline through the water meter follows the general terrain at the site.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement to permit the installation of water meters where the water pipelines are provided in various orientations.
The present invention is a rotatable body/pipe connector that combines the conventional end connections (usually straight pipe threads located on a common axis) and a transition section acting as a fluid manifold in the body/pipe connector. The connector""s construction at the pipeline interface permits the entire meter to be connected to a utility pipeline using conventional connections, such as a tailpiece, a nut and an end gasket or to use application-specific end connections, such as sweat fittings, built-in union compression fittings, etc. The manifold body/pipe connector permits a sealed fluid connection to a special meter body transition section via circular shapes which permit the interface to be sealed with standard O-rings that are compressed to make a seal. A large threaded body nut that is mechanically retained on the body/pipe connector by either a spring or split ring provides the sealing force to lock the connections together. The use of the spring or split ring permits the large body nut to be installed over the transition section of the body/pipe connector and still impart a force when engaging the body threads at any angle of the meter body relative to the body/pipe connector. This construction provides two additional advantages: (1) it permits field replacement of pre-calibrated, unitized chamber and register assemblies by unskilled labor; and (2) this same construction permits more flexible upgrades to new technology either in the register or the entire unitized measuring unit.